Snubbing means



p 20, 3948. G. E. DATH 'SNUBBING MEANS Filed July 20, 1944 nue/1.221

Patented Apr. 20, 1948 SNUBBING MEANS George E. Dath, Mokena, Ill., assigner to W. H.

lll., a corporation of Dela- Miner, Inc., Chicago, ware Application July 20, 1944, Serial N0. 545,772

3 Claims. f l This invention relates to improvements in snubbing means for railway car truck springs.

One object of the invention is to provide in a railway car truck simple and efficient means for snubbing or dampening the action of the usual truck springs without reducing the load carrying capacity of the springs.

Another object of the invention is to provide friction means of the character indicated in the preceding paragraph, auxiliary to the usual truck springs for dampening the compression and recoil actions of the springs to minimize the vibrations imparted to the car body,

A more specific object of the invention is to provide rotary friction means actuated by movements of the truck bolster of a railway car for snubbing the action of the truck springs, wherein the friction means includes rotatable friction discs cooperating with friction surfaces formed on the truck side frame, and lever means actuated by links connected to the bolster for effecting rotation of said friction discs.

Other objects of the invention will more clearly appear from the description and claims hereinafter following.

In the drawing forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a portion -of a railway car truck, illustrating my improvements in connection therewith. Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional view, corresponding substantially to the line 2-2 of Figure' 1. Figure 3 is a transverse, vertical sectional view, `corresponding substantially to the line 3-3 of Figure 2, but showing the rotary friction members in elevation. Figure 4 is a detail perspective view, on an enlarged scale, of the friction disc portion of one of the rotary members of the improved snubbing means.

In said drawing, I indicates one of the side frame members of a railway car truck. The side frame I0, as shown, is in the form of a casting and has top and bottom members II and I2 connected by spaced, vertical sections i3-I3, forming guides for the truck bolster. As will be understood by those skilled in this art, the truck includes two side frame members Ill- I0 and a truck bolster I4. The bolster I4 has its opposite ends guided between the vertical sections Iii- I3 of the truck side frames Ill-I0 and is supported by the springs IE-Ii. As most clearly shown in Figure l, the sections I3-I3 are inwardly offset at their upper end` portions to provide guides IC--IC which cooperate with guide seats I'I-I'l at the sides of the bolster Il.' The truck illustrated in the drawing is of the spring plankless type and the truck springs are supported directly on the bottom members I 2-I2 of the side frames III-I0, the usual top and bottom spring follower plates. being interposed between each truck spring cluster and the body bolster and the corresponding bottom member, respectively.

My improvements comprise broadly a pair of rotary friction members A-A cooperating with friction surfaces B-B on each side frame of the railway car truck; a pair of links C-C connected to .the bolsterat each end thereof for actuating the rotary members; and a spring D interposed between the friction members A-A.

In` carrying out my invention, I provide the spaced vertical side walls I8-I8 of the top member II of each side frame member I0 with outwardly offset, cylindrical sections I 9, which are in the form of hollow bosses, closed at their outer ends. The sections or bosses I9 are located midway of that portion of the member II which extends between the vertical sections I3-I3 of the side frame. The friction surfaces B-B, hereinbefore referred to, are provided interiorly of the bosses I 9I 9, each boss presenting two such sur- 4 friction surfaces B-B of the faces, which are of .helical formation and 'arranged at opposite sides of the vertical central axis of the boss. Each surface B is inclined outwardly from the bottom to the top of the hollow boss, and the friction surfaces B-B and B-B of the two bosses I9-I9 are opposed to each other.

Each friction member A is in the form of a heavy disc having a pair of friction surfaces 2li-20 of helical formation, correspondingly inclined to and cooperating, respectively, with the boss I9 at the corresponding side of the side frame I0. The friction members A-'A bear, respectively, on the friction surfaces of the bosses Iii- I9v and are pressed against the latter by the spring D, which is in the form of a helical coil interposed between said members. 'Ihe spring D is held centeredvby pro- Jections or bosses 2I-2I on the inner sides of the members A-A engaged within opposite ends of the spring. This spring is preferably under initial compression, thereby holding the friction members in tight frictional engagement with the friction surfaces B-B and B-B -of the side frame Ill. Each friction member A is provided withan arm 22 integral therewith. The arm 22 is of angular formation having a portion 23 extending laterally inwardly from the member A, parallel to the axis of rotation of said member, and a portion 24 at the outer end of the portion 23 at right angles axis of rotation. The portion 24 of the arm is to the latter and radial to said casacca forked, "as shown most clearly in Figure 2, to acoommodate the upper end of the link C at the corresponding side of the device.

The links C-C are in the form of elongated, flat bars disposed at opposite sides of the device and pivotaliy connected at their upper and lower ends to the arms 22e-22 and the bolster Il, respectively, Theupper end of each link C is embraced by the fork of the portion 2l of the arm 22 and is connected thereto by a pin 2B extending through the members of the fork and said link. The lower end portion of each link extends into the bolster Il at the corresponding side thereof, the bolster being provided with openings 2li- 2e at opposite sides thereof to accommodate said lower end portions of the links. Laterally spaced ears 21-21 are provided interiorly of the bolster I4 at opposite sides thereof, which ears depend from the top wall 29 of the bolster and are located at opposite sides of each opening. The lower end of each link is engaged between the corresponding ears 21-21 'and is pivotally connected thereto by a pivot pin 28, extending through said ears and the link C,

As will be evident, the links C-C being anchored to the bolster I4 transmit the up and down motion of the bolster to the outer ends of the arms 22-22 of the members A-A, to which the upper ends of the links are pivoted, thereby rotating the members A-A in one direction when the bolster moves downwardly and in opposite direction when the bolster moves upwardly.

The operation of my improved snubbing means is as follows: Upon vertical relative movement of the bolster i4 with respect to the side frame i9, assuming that the bolster is being depressed, the cluster of springs i5-i5 are compressed between the bolster and the bottom member I2 of the side frame. This movement of the bolsteris transmitted through the links C--C to the friction members A--A, thereby rotating the front member in clockwise direction and the rear member in contra-clockwise direction, as viewed in Figure 1, and causing the friction surfaces 20-20 at the right hand side of said front member and at the left hand side of said rear member to slide on the friction surfaces B-B of the bosses i9-l9 of the side frame in what may be considered upward direction on said friction surfaces. During this action, the friction surfaces at the left and right hand sides| respectively, of said front and rear members A-A are inactive as they are moved' laterally away from the cooperating friction surfaces B-B of the side frame. The frictional resistance thus produced effectively snubs the action of the truck springs during compression of the same. During recoil of the truck springs, the bolster i4 moves upwardly, thereby effecting rotation of the members A-A in a reverse direction to that before described, During this recoil action of the truck springs, frictional resistance to snub the action of the truck springs is produced by the same friction surfaces; however, when the recoil action throws the bolster i4 upwardly beyond the normal position shown in Figure 1, the friction members A-A are rotated beyond the position shown, thereby bringing the friction surfaces 20 at the right hand side of the front member A and the friction surface 20 at the left hand side of the rear member A, as seen in Figure 1, into acinvention, but the same is merely illustrative and I contemplate all changes and modifications that come within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

1. In a railway car truck, the combination with a side frame having a hollow boss thereon provided with an interior friction surface; of a vertically movable bolster; a cluster of truck springs supporting said bolster; a rotary friction disc rotatably mounted -within said boss and engaging said friction surface; a spring pressing said disc against the friction surface of the side frame; and means actuated by relative vertical movement of the bolster and side frame for rotating said disc.

2. In a railway car truck, the combination with a side frame having opposed, interior friction surfaces thereon; of a vertically movable bolster; a cluster of truck springs supporting said bolster; a pair of opposed rotary friction discs rotataloll7 engaging said friction surfaces respectively; a spring pressing said discs against the friction surfaces of the bolster; and means actuated by relative vertical movement of the bolster and side frame for rotating said discs.

3. In a railway car truck, the combination with a side frame having opposed lpairs of interior friction surfaces, the surfaces of each pair being helical and inclined away from each other; of a vertically movable bolster; a cluster of truck springs supporting said bolster; a pair of rotary friction discs, each having a pair of friction surfaces cor- `respondingly inclined to and cooperating with the corresponding pair of friction surfaces of the truck side frame; a spring pressing said discs against the friction surfaces of the bolster; and

-means actuated by relative vertical movement of the bolster and side frame for rotating said discs.

GEORGE E. DATH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,000,264 Hartford Aug. 8, 1911 1,228,944 Miller June 5, 1917 1,349,781 Moore Aug. 17, 1920 1,548,211 Burke May 11, 1926 1,894,717 Sproul Jan, 17, 1933 y 2,162,342 Anderson June 13, 1939 2,295,549 Cottrell Sept. 15, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 548,834 France Nov, 3, 1922 

